Al Bhed Princess
by Teri Baumer
Summary: Rikku&Gippal. They're forced to work together by Cid. Rikku dislikes Gippals Teasing. But the two end up graviating to each other when the past comes back to remind them of what they were before. READ AND REVIEW! YA OPEN IT, REVIEW IT! PLEASE!
1. Childhood Trauma

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFX or FFX-2. This is my 3rd time posting this up… the Al Bhed Princess. My other account was deleted b/c of some explicit yaoi, so I'm re-writing it for you guys. I hope you like. Don't forget to check out all my other fictions too. **

It was a hot day on Bikanel Island as everyone worked on HOME. The work load was pretty light, but it was only because their chief was in mourning. His beloved wife had passed away during childbirth, and he was left with only his newborn daughter and dumb ass son. It was like his world was shattering. He knew he had to gather himself up, but the pain weighing down on him seemed to suffocate him.

When a knock came from the door, he lifted his head, and called out, allowing the person to know they could come in. He was surprised to see the young Sima at his door. By her side was her two year old son, Gippal. She had a sympathetic look on her face. "Excuse me, Cid?" she called out timidly.

He raised his bloodshot eyes to stare into her blue ones. "Yeah?" he asked, his voice hoarse from all the tears he'd already shed.

"I was hoping that perhaps I could be of some help to you." She smiled weakly. "I know in a time like this, and with the management of HOME, well if you need some help with the care of your daughter, I'd be happy to assist."

He didn't have time to take care of his daughter, and with all his responsibilities it would be futile to do so. "Fine. You'll be her nanny. If you need to move into the guest quarters." He said before turning back to some work.

"Okay sir." She said as she walked out silently, her son grasping onto her hand. She then went and headed off to the living quarters in which the chief lived. She went in and checked on the new born baby. Gazing down at the tiny pink bundle asleep, tiny hands balled up into fists, she couldn't help but smile. The golden fuzz on her head was like an angel's halo. "You are an Al Bhed Princess." She said softly. "And may my son be your prince." She said as she lifted Gippal to give him a better view. "Gippal, one day, you'll need to protect her." His mother said as she smiled down at her son. "And when you do so, do it lovingly."

**10 Years Later, the first Attack on HOME.**

Things on Bikanel Island were calm as usual. Even though there had been some conflict with the ever tiresome Guado, the Al Bhed community were holding up. They never expected that day to become such a massacre.

Gippal and Rikku were running around in the sand as Sima, Gippal's mother watched over them. The two children looked so happy together, and she couldn't help but feel that Gippal would be forever Rikku's protector.

As everyone went along with their lives, the Guado were hiding, planning a full one attack. Within in moments the area was swarming with Guado. The screams of those being murdered were gut wrenching.

Rikku and Gippal were stunned, as Sima ran and grabbed their hands. "We need to hide!" she said as she looked around frantically for some place. But all she could see were explosions and huge clouds of smoke and sand. She dragged the children into a far corner, hoping, praying that nothing would happen.

"Auntie." Rikku said, her voice shaking. "What's happening to HOME?" Sima looked down at the tiny girl, watching her bright green eyes fill up with tears, her lower lip trembling. "Honey, I don't know, but things will be okay." She said as she squeezed her hand. "Gippal is here to help too." She said as she nodded towards her son.

"I'm here." He said, trying not to let his fear show.

Suddenly there was an explosion, and debris' went flying towards them. Sima used her body to shield the children. She felt the hot metal slice into her back, as she let out a cry of pain. She tried not to show her pain. She knew that her main objective here was to protect the children. She got up and stood in front of the kids. She held her side as she panted. She knew behind that cloud of smoke that there was a Guado, armed and dangerous.

"I'm here to kill you." It said, it's voice raspy and cold as it walked towards them. "I won't let you get away alive." It said.

With her arms spread out, Sima gasped for air. "I'll never let you hurt them!" she said, hot tears of fear and pain running down her smoke and sweat streaked face. "NEVER!" she screamed as the Guado came lunging forwards with it's blade. It sliced through her heart. She knew it was the end. She turned to look at her son. "Protect her always." Were her last words before she collapsed on the sand, blood pouring from her body.

"Nooo!" Gippal screamed, hot tears of fury flowing from his eyes. "How could you!" he said. He stood in front of a sobbing Rikku. "How could you kill her!" he said again. "How?" he sobbed as his rage increased.

"You will be next." It said.

Gippal, not thinking, picked up a chunk of metal, and lunged at the Guado. As luck would have it, it sliced through the enemy. He stumbled back in surprise, as he watched Guado fall to it's knees. He sighed out in relief. But before he could make it back to Rikku, the Guado called out. "It's not over." Gippal turned and saw that he had a grenade in it's claw. Gippal lunged on top of Rikku to protect her from the blast.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as he coughed.

"Yeah." She said, her voice coated in tears. "Is it over?" she asked.

Gippal looked out into the cloud of smoke. "I hope it is." He said. But before he could check, a chunk of debris flew towards him. Before he could block, it hit him in his right eye. Grunting, Gippal fell to his knees, his hand clutching his right eye as blood flowed from it.

"Gippal!" Rikku said as more tears came out. She watched as he fell to the ground. She didn't know what to do, so she dragged a huge piece of debris and hid under it with Gippal.

Hours later, Buddy and Brother were searching for Rikku. Rikku had fallen asleep after the battle had ended. When she heard Buddy's voice, she crawled out from beneath the ruble. She was covered in blood and soot. "Buddy." She said in a quiet voice. " Buddy!" she said as she ran over to him, tears flowing out all over again.

"You okay Rikku?" he asked as he crouched down to look at her. "You're not hurt now are you?" He looked her over, and sighed when he saw no real damage.

"I'm okay." She said, but sniffled. "But Gippal! Gippal is hurt!" she said as she pointed to the ruble in which she had been hiding under. She watched as Brother walked over and pulled him out. "He iz Oh-Kay." He said, trying to speak English, knowing that Rikku was more accustomed to it.

Buddy picked Rikku up and carried her to where the rest of the surviving Al Bhed were recovering. Brother carried Gippal to the hospital part, where the doctors operated on his eye. Sadly, Gippal would never regain his sight again, and from that point on wore a leather eye patch.

**The Eternal Calm (After FFX-2) **

Standing in the garage, Rikku inspected her handy work on her new 2 passenger air ship. She had to admit that she was fairly good with her hands. She smiled as she put down the wrench and pulled out a clean rag. She sighed as she polished up her new baby. "I believe I'll call you **_The Neptune_**." She said as she stood back once again, admiring the turquoise gleam. "Yeah that seems to suit you." She then stretched her arms up, and sighed.

"Seems that you're still talking to yourself Cid's Girl."

Whirling around, Rikku saw that it was Gippal, spying on her once again. "I do have a name ya know!" she said as she brought her arms down.

"Yeah and that's _Cid's Girl_." He said, enjoying the look on her face from his teasing.

"Oh and what would your name be?" she said as she put a finger to her face to accent her thoughtful expression. "Ah I know!" she said as she jumped up and down. "It's one eyed Jack-ass!" she said, finally satisfied with her so called genius come back.

In response to her come back, he rolled his eyes, which he knew would piss her off even more. "Wow, that sure is some come back." He said.

"You know what." She said as she huffed. "I really dislike you." She stopped and took hold of her temper before saying anymore. "You're such an imbecile." She said.

"And you're such the princess." He said as he bowed mockingly at her.

"You're such the knight!" countered as she grabbed one of his leather straps attached to his pants. "Now that I'm done in here, I'm closing up! So if you don't mind, please go!" she said as she tugged and shoved him out of the garage. She then turned and closed the door and locked it. When she turned back, she was annoyed to find him still there. "Why aren't you at the Machine Faction?" she asked as she began to walk outside of HOME.

"I dunno, maybe cause your old man called me in." he said with a shrug.

"Pops called _you _in? I wonder what he would want to do with such an old hunk a junk like you." She shot him a sly grin.

"Dunno." He said again. "Oh can you show me to his office?" he asked.

"Sure." She said, glad that the teasing had ended. It was fun to do so at times, but with all the work that she had put in that day, it was quite tiresome. Though some days Gippal just didn't know when to stop.

When she finally got to her old man's office she gestured for Gippal to go in. "C'mon the least you could do is open the door for me." He said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not your servant." She said, but still opened the door, just out of courtesy.

"Ah, Gippal, you finally came!" he said as he stood up. He looked at his blonde daughter. "And Rikku you're here too! Well what brings you here?" he asked as he scratched the back of his bald head.

"I was just showing Gippal the way Pops." She said.

"Well stay while I talk to Gippal." He said.

"Why?" she asked, totally unaware of what he was planning.

"Well, you see, the Machine Faction needs a vice-president, and well I've decided to send you to the Djose Temple to work there with Gippal." Cid watched as both youths gaped at him.

"Why didn't you ask me this?" Gippal demanded when he got his head back on.

"Cause I knew you'd be weird about it." He said as he pulled out a cigar.

"But-But Why!" Rikku asked in her most whiny voice. "This is so unfair!" she said as she crossed her arms.

"It's practical." He said as he took a puff of his cigar.

"I don't wanna live or work with a slime ball like him!" she said, pouting.

"Well I don't want to work with a whiny brat." He said.

"I'm not a brat." She said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh but your actions speak otherwise." He said as he smirked at her.

"I've decided already, so DEAL! Rikku you'll start moving there tomorrow!" Cid said. "Now out!" he bellowed. He watched the two stalk away with their tails between their legs. Once they were gone he sat down in his chair and took a few more puffs of his cigar.

"I'm doing this for you Sima." He said with a chuckle.

**A/N: Okay so I hope you liked this chapter. Whoooooooie! I love those two. I hope it's more fun. It's kinda like an improved version of Rikku's Turn at Love, but better. I mean that was my 2nd fanfic ever, so I hope this is more interesting. Please Read and Review!**

**Love**

**Teri Baumer**


	2. Falling Hard

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFX or X-2…**

**Thanks to those of you who have reviewed. It means a lot to me!**

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The next day as Rikku packed her things, she thought how annoying it would be to work with Gippal. He was such a pompous ass!

It then dawned on her that he never used to be one. Not until that day eight years ago. When they both saw Sima die, and when he lost his eye from the debris that the Guado had caused. Everyone in their clan had changed that day. They had no more home then, and it took years to re-build, especially in a new secluded area in the dessert. It wasn't enough because three years ago, the Guado came again and attacked, again destroying their HOME.

The one that saved them, was Yunie, her beloved cousin, whom she helped protect as a guardian during her long, hard pilgrimage. She was there when they fought Yunalesca and Seymour. She was there when Jhect and Yu Yevon were there. She stood by her cousins side, and protected her with her will.

Then there eternal calm came, and Spira was finally free of fear. Yuna also told them that she was half Al Bhed, and that they weren't people to hate. She told them that the teachings of Yevon were false, and hidden within them were lies of deceit. It was her words that finally brought peace to everyone in Spira. No more attacks on the Al Bhed. Everyone had respect for all the different races and clans. No more hatred.

Peace was still out of their reach though. It was then when she saw Gippal again. When New Yevon and the Youth League were fighting over Spira. It was then when she finally saw the face of the one that had protected her. She hadn't seen him since she 12. Five years had definitely changed him. His personality was cocky and rude. It made her stomach turn sour.

He was there to help against Vegnagun and Shuyin. So seeing him actually being helpful had made her re-think his attitude. Except she then changed it after the defeat of Vegnagun and Shuyin. He was in the lime light, and totally became full of himself.

Which brings her to the now. Almost two full years of absolute peace. Almost two years since he came back into the arms of Yuna. Almost two years since Yuna got married. Things had changed so much. It was crazy, but that's how things worked.

Sighing, she closed her garment grid, and her sack of orbs. The orbs were other outfits that she could wear. She just had to exchange one orb outfit from the grid with the one she wanted to use. It was an awesome invention that Shinra had made. It made so many lives in Spira more convenient.

If only her life were more convenient. Sadly that wasn't her case. She was stuck with working with the machine faction instead of working on her airships and neato gadgets.

With another hefty sigh she sagged her shoulders before leaving her room, her feet dragging on the smooth floor. She was so _enthused_ to be going that she was moving at the pace of an obese Shupuff.

As she continued to walk through the corridors of HOME, her thoughts were interrupted by Buddy. She looked up, a very agitated expression on her face. "What do you want Buddy?" she asked, her voice low and gruff!

"Just saw ya and wondering why you're moving around like sludge."

"I don't wanna go." She mumbled before releasing a huge sigh of discontent.

"Go where?" he asked. He stared as her head popped up, and her eyes digging holes into his head.

"I'm being sent to work at the Machine Faction with Gippal." She said, not to pleased with the idea.

"Wow, well, hope it goes well." He said. He remembered that their relationship had changed shortly after the first invasion of HOME.

She lifted her gaze up to Buddy's and saw that he actually looked concerned. "Thanks." She said on a sigh. "I'll cya." She said as she continued to slouch and drag her feet down the hall.

By the time Rikku go to the Machine Faction, it had already become dark. She thought that maybe Gippal might have gone out to do something, for some odd ball reason. So then felt like it was safe to saunter into the Djose Temple, which was the headquarters of the Machine Faction.

"Cid's girl where in Spira have you been?" he demanded when he saw her walk in all cool.

Rikku looked up, amazed that he was actually there. She could only blink, because she couldn't think up a valid answer. "Uh." Was all that came from her mouth.

"Yeah that's not a good answer brat." He said before running his fingers through his honey colored hair.

"Excuse me Gippal. If I'm not correct, there was no specified time for me to arrive today." She said as she flipped her long blond pony tail behind her back. She grinned when she saw him stutter. "Yeah go think on an answer." She said. "I'm going upstairs to my room." She said knowing that the Chamber of the Fayth was the "guest room."

"What about…" he began to say but didn't know what he was trying to do. "Go do what you want." He said, kicking an old rusted knut across the room. "See if I care." He mumbled.

Once in the safe confinements of the room, Rikku dumped her stuff on the table before turning around quickly to kick the door. "He really pisses me off!" She stopped herself and told herself to take some deep soothing breaths before she got too worked up.

When she was finally calmed down, Rikku smiled, and stretched. She noticed the hole where the statue of the Fayth had been was replaced. When she went over to it, she noticed it wasn't Ixion anymore but the emblem of the Machine Faction. She was annoyed that she had to work here with them. She walked over to it, and decided to vent her frustrations out on it. She walked over on top of the bronze metal and began to jump up and down on the hunk of junk! "I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT!" Rikku screamed. After about her 10th jump, she her body was jerked. She looked down and noticed that there were some rusty pieces holding this thing down. "Fuck." She said as she felt it caving in. She tried to side step her way off of it, but it was too late. She fell along with the emblem down the hole, which lead to the farplane glenn.

As she fell she screamed "GIPPAL YOU ASS, WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME!"

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**A/N: Okay leaving you there. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I've been kinda in a relationship and stuff… and my knee is still messed up… I've been kinda depressed and have really come quite attached to sleeping. -- I know bad excuse. Well please read and review, and I promise to be more on top of things. **

**Love to you!**

**Teri**


	3. Rescuer

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X-2.**

**Please go to this site to translate the phrases that are in Al Bhed into English. It's a neatosite.**

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As she fell into the dark abyss that was the Farplane Glenn, it occurred to her that she had no weapons to use to protect herself from the fiends that wandered around. She landed quite forcefully on her back, causing all of the air in her lungs to woosh out.

When she was sure that she had regained the capability of breathing again, she sat up and brushed her huge mane of hair from her face. "Great, I have practically no way of protecting myself." Rikku said as she stood up, brushing the dirt from her body. She looked around, glad that she saw no fiends. At least for the moment she was safe. She just hoped that Gippal would get to her in time.

**Djose Temple**

"Frana tet dryd lnycr lusa vnus!" Gippal demanded when the shaking of the temple had ended. He looked around at his crew and saw one of them raising his hand.

"E pameaja ed lysa vnus dra lryspan uv dra Vyodr." Hatic cyet cmufmo.

Gippal's eyes widened when realization sank in. _Rikku_ he thought. He fled the room, headed in only one direction, the chamber of the Fayth. He took the stairs three at a time, trying to see if she was okay. He burst through the door and saw the huge hole in the floor, and no sign of Rikku. It was an extremely long way down that he seriously doubted that Rikku would be able to hear him. Running his fingers through his hair, Gippal turned and kicked dresser, hissing as the pain shot through his toes. "Vilg! Fryd ys E kuehk du tu huf?" He thought aloud, completely swamped in an array of emotions. "E haat du kad du ran vycd." He didn't care what happened to himself, all that mattered was Rikku's safety. He turned and ran out of the room, returning with his machina weapon, a small sack of potions, and Rikku's battle dress spheres.

"Nayto un hud, rana E lusa Neggi." Gippal said right before he jumped down into the Farplane Glenn.

(h t t p/a l b h e d . n e t f i r m s . c o m /Go here to translate the albhed. It's that site w/o the spaces between the letters. there is another '/' after http. kay?)

**Farplane Glenn**

Rikku wasn't feeling so hot as she leaned against a pillar of stone. The fall must have done more damage than she thought as she wiped away the beads of sweat speckling her forehead. She wasn't pleased with the double vision, nor was she happy about the nausea rolling over her in intense waves.

"How am I going to get out?" she wondered aloud as she plopped down, leaning back against the pillar. "It's all Gippal's fault." She said as she panted. "All his fault." She said before drifting away.

When he landed, he had to take a moment to re-gather himself. It was indeed a far fall and the impact of landing had made some of the stuff he was carrying around fly off, but aside from that it wasn't too bad. He looked around, and saw no sign of Rikku. He took several steps when he caught the scent of her. The scent of honeysuckle, grease, and leather. He closed his eyes as he imagined her pretty face, feisty green eyes, and her petite form. He couldn't help but smile. She really did bring more light into a room or to one's heart.

Gippal shook himself back into reality as he smelled and followed her scent. It took only half an hour to find her, lying against a stone pillar. He ran up to her, dropping his things. "Rikku." He shouted as he gently shook her shoulders. "Rikku can you hear me?" he asked. He noticed that she was breathing shallowly, and that she was sweating. He felt her forehead and felt an incredible heat. "She's sick." He said as he pulled out his medical bag. He sifted through the contents until he found what he needed. It was an Al Bhed fever reducer. He just hoped it would help for the time being.

Once he felt that it was safe to set up camp, he noticed several Fang fiends approaching him. He managed to grab his machina weapon and shoot them off into oblivion. With that done, he set up a tent, putting Rikku inside. He then put down some talismans around the tent to ward off fiends. It would basically mean that in their eyes, that the tent was just a plain boulder.

When he went back into the tent, he saw that Rikku was bruised quite a bit. "Bmayca fyga ib." Gippal said as he gingerly took Rikku's hand, rubbing it against his cheek. "Bmayca." he said, his voice hoarse and raw with emotion.

When Rikku awoke, she really didn't know where she was. All she knew before opening her eyes that her body felt awful. She wasn't quite ready to open her eyes and find out what was going on. She took several deep breaths and tried to recall everything that had happened. She remembered being in the room at the Djose Temple. She also remembered falling into the Farplane Glenn and wandering around. Everything else was a blur, except for this intense warmth, when she heard Gippal's voice. Could it really be possible?

Taking a deep breath, Rikku opened her eyes and found that she was staring up at the ceiling of a tent. She shot up into a sitting position, quickly regretting it when a huge wave of dizziness hit her. Where was she, was what she wanted to know. Her attention was quickly turned to the groan next to her.

"GIPPAL!" she exclaimed when she saw him sprawled out next to her, his hand grasped around her own. "Oh my _gawd!_" Rikku said, completely shocked to see him lying down next to her, his hair tousled from sleep, and his hand holding on to her own.

She watched as he opened his eye, blinking a couple of times before he realized that she was awake. "Rikku." He said as he slowly sat up, still not letting go of her hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice thick with the sound of sleep.

"Just really sore." She said, still surprised to see him, looking quite sheepish and adorable.

"I'm glad. I found you passed out. You had a fever and I gave you some of the Al Bhed fever remedy." He finally let go of her hand, and stretched. "You really worried me." he said. "I'm sorry though." He said, making direct eye contact with her.

There was a long silence as they stared at each other. "It's not your fault." She said.

"I was supposed to inspect the handy work of Nedus, and hadn't really realized that you would have broken through it." he said, his face still guilt ridden.

"Gippal." She said softly. "Look at me." she waited until he did again. She grabbed his hand in her own, not breaking the eye contact and said, "It's okay." And then she gently lifted his hand and kissed it before rubbing it against her cheek. "I'm thankful you came to rescue me." She opened her eyes as she gazed at him. "You still kept your promise to protect me." she said, her voice beginning to coat with tears.

"I guess I did." He said softly. He brushed away the few tears that fell from her delicate eyelashes. He then leaned in a bit, staring into her wet emerald eyes. He really was glad she was okay. He smiled as he inched closer to her face.

"Gippal." Rikku whispered as she closed the gap and softly touched her lips to his.

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A/N: Sorry for taking so freaking long to update. I just have been in a really weird funk lately. Plus I work 40 hours a week a camp, in the summer heat, and so I've been so tired when I get home that I just never was able to get around to updating. **

**So please bare with me. Thanks so much, please continue to read and review! **(h t t p/a l b h e d . n e t f i r m s . c o m /Go here to translate the albhed. It's that site w/o the spaces between the letters. there is another '/' after the http. )

**Teri Baumer**


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